Justice Across Space and Time: Year 2
Chapter 3
Time to help Nabu and get a look at the set up for class 1-A in their new position. As the pro heroes of the island and what they'll be doing. Also, we'll get a look at Mina. I did mention that she's gone a bit more rebellious/gyaru after becoming a half demon. So on with the show.
(No POV)
After a bit of packing, all of the students were ready to head to Nabu island. "This will be our chance to show what the next generation of heroes can do!" Ida says enthusiastically. A number of his classmates agree and cheer with him.
But there were others who were less excited. Sahiraah being a major one. 'This just… it feels so wrong. Maybe this is a lot of why he left too. There was a reason we didn't get too involved in the day-to-day matters,' she thinks with a frustrated sigh.
Izuku, while liking the idea of being acknowledged as a pro hero and helping people, felt an odd amount of disgust or distaste for the way they would be operating. "Guess this has something to do with all Jota- John had been talking about. Being a hero isn't a job, it's a call. A call to action to save and help. Not a day job."
"That makes more sense for their world. Though I can't disagree I've been seeing more of the darker sides to it myself Midori." Mina said while walking up with Luno on her shoulder. She let out a slight sigh and thought about some of what she'd witnessed before her second year.
Namely the greater greed and other negative aspects that she could now perceive with her demon senses. While not fully telepathic or a direct victim in any way, her half demon state gave her something akin to empathetic perception. Letting her see the sides that many heroes hid.
'They definitely aren't all bad. But so many…. They are just doing this for a shallow reason. Jotaro, no wait John. Anyway, him, Midori, Sahiraah, Itsuka, Ochaco, Ojiro, Tetsutetsu and Kiri. They know why they do this. They struggle inside, but they'll step up when needed. Some I've seen only do that when there are people obviously watching.'
Mina's thoughts had become more jaded and frustrated as she got more acquainted with her demon side and abilities. Especially when she went home for a time and dealt with people eyeing her up because of her appearance and succubus assets. Many far worse than Mineta could ever be.
But that wasn't the only thing that had her on edge. Over her time studying magic with Sahiraah, Luno, and a few other demons, she'd practice some various types of niche magic. One she tried recently was tarot readings. She decided to do some for those who she felt especially close to.
For Izuku, she pulled the card of the Sun and Melissa was the Star when she read for her. Temperance was what she found Itsuka to be and Ochaco was Strength. For herself, she pulled two cards without trying to. The Devil and a reversed Lovers. "Like I don't have enough problems with demons and devils," she thought aloud.
"What was that?" Ochaco asked as they were heading to the ship for Nabu. Mina cleared her throat before passing it off as nothing. But a different set of cards did worry her. When she pulled a card for John, it came out as a reversed Justice. Which was again ironic.
Sahiraah meanwhile was represented by the Empress. Which worried Mina for a number of reasons. But the last card she drew was what made her uneasy for the Work Recommendation Project. She subtly summoned her deck once more as they were boarding the ship. Crossing her fingers as she reached for the top card of the shuffled deck.
"Please no whammies. Please not that!" she muttered silently as she grabbed the card. She flipped it over and her heart dropped. She had drawn the Tower. This was the third time that she had pulled the card when doing these readings. And given what she now knew of magic as well as what had pulled John away… Well let's just say she was even more afraid of what could come.
Though her fears were slightly abated when they arrived on the island itself. "Oh! Its so good to see so many young heroes!" the mayor of the town said when he greeted them at the harbor. He had a big smile on his tanned face and came up to shake Ida's hand. Assuming he was the leader of the class.
"Ahem. No sir. I am one of the vice presidents of class 1-A. Midoriya here is the one who is the leader of class 1-A!" he said before gently pushing Izuku forward. Who cleared his throat before offering a hand towards the mayor. "Pleasure to meet you sir. I'm….. the Symbol of Hope: Kibou. We'll be glad to help you and the rest of the residents however we can."
Sahiraah scoffed a bit while the mayor apologized and acknowledged Izuku. "I heard about you with the Sports Festival. Is it true you don't have a quirk?" he asked with some confusion. Izuku slid past that before noting that they need to see the location of their Agency.
"If we're going to be helping people, then we need to know where to go and see how it's set up." Izuku said with a nod to the leader of the island. "Of course. I apologize. The local officer will show you to the building."
He gestures to said person and they quickly guide the students to the busses and have them brought to the former Hero office. "It might need a bit of cleaning, but it should be fine. Luckily you won't have much to worry about here. We haven't had a villain attack in over 30 years."
Momo takes the moment to thank the officer before gathering up a few of her fellow students to clean the building and make sure all the facilities were up and running. Izuku told Ida to take a few into the town so they could get ingredients for cooking. While his group would do some basic hero work around the immediate area.
Melissa meanwhile set up her own lab and rough development studio in a back room. "It's not as advanced as anything at a hero school. But I can make this work," she said as she brought out some equipment from one of her packages.
Namely, a fully functioning costume crafter and adjustment station. Multiple mechanical marvels and tables that would let her work on her own suit as well as the gear that each of the quirked heroes had. An easily collapsible monitoring and scanner station. And a variety of equipment for chemical analysis and work.
"You really sure you'll need all of that?" Tsuyu asked after shaking out of shock of seeing how Melissa modified a backroom. The inventor hero shrugged and said, "probably not. But it never hurts to have it and not need it."
The rest of the teens finished setting up the office and the word was put out that the UA Hero Agency was open and ready to assist. Though some were less enthusiastic about it compared to others.
One of the first major jobs taken up by the teens was acting as lifeguards at the main beach of the island. Shoji sat atop the tower and extending his tentacles to listen and watch for trouble. "Asui! There's a kid caught in a riptide!" he called out over the waterproof radio.
"I'm on it!" the frog girl announced before hoping and then swimming off to find the kid in trouble. Catching the boy with her tongue and holding him aloft. Sato then used his quirk (with the drawbacks lessened thanks to some of Izuku's suggestions on what sweets could help in the right moment) and rapidly rowed out to pick the boy up from Asui.
The scared kid was set down in the rowboat while Sato caught his breath and the drawbacks faded. "Hey kiddo. You okay?" he asked with a slightly strained face. The kid sniffled a bit before saying, "thanks mister. I'm okay, but you don't look good."
Sato let out a little laugh and admitted he was better. "Just need to relax a bit. Though you've been brave. Here." Sato shook off a bit more of the mental drain before offering a cookie from one of his pouches. He then started to row back to shore to find the kid's parents.
"That might have gone worse a few months ago." Asui noted while floating near the boat. She made her way back to shore while also keeping an eye out for others who went too far.
Back on land wasn't easy either. Ojiro and Mineta were currently patrolling near the beach houses and shops for creeps and others who were harassing people. With Mineta stopping the troublemakers in their tracks. And Ojiro would knock them back with his quirk.
"Why is it that they only see you!?" Mineta exclaimed after they'd dealt with a third group of troublemakers. Ojiro blushed and said, "I don't know. Maybe…. It's just my height. Though you've grown a bit."
Mineta pouted before hearing a woman screaming. The two nodded and rushed off. Mineta arriving first to see some guy being painfully pushy to a few women. "Don't think so jerk! Grape Rush!" he shouted before rapidly tossing his orbs out to restrain the jerk.
"The Hell! My buds will take care of you!" he called out and suddenly Mineta was jumped by a group of drunk idiots. "I don't think so! Flame Tail Tornado! And Burst Palms!" Ojiro announced before spinning and unleashing a burning set of blows. Followed up by a barrage of palm strikes with a fiery touch.
One man though wouldn't go down easy. "I think he's got a stamina quirk! Keep him distracted. We don't need to hurt them really!" Mineta said to the tailed teen. Who nodded and used his Flare Shot kicks and tail swipes to disorient the troublemaker. And leave him open for Mineta to restrain.
"Thank you! I guess they were more drunk than we expected. But you were both great heroes!" one of the women said to Ojiro. And while Mineta was annoyed by this again, he was surprised by the pat on his head. "You did great too little guy."
The short hero tears up a bit at hearing this and thanks the woman as they continue their patrol. "I think it works better when you don't try to posture pal." Ojiro says with a raised eyebrow. Noting that had failed the purple teen more than once.
Tokoyami meanwhile was working with Sahiraah on noting the off-limits section of the beach. With Dark Shadow talking to the civilians while Sahiraah wove a web of magic that spelled it out to them. Though some thought she was another tourist given she was in her costume. Though her harem pants replaced by swim briefs.
"Now then, I'd like a volunteer to show what happens if you go past this point," she said with a bit of flair. A woman steps forward and Sahiraah gestures to the field. Once the woman crosses the threshold, an alert goes off and a screen shows the woman's name, age, and address. "If you don't follow the rules, we will find you for a fine~!" Sahiraah says with a wink. Before snapping and erasing the screen.
She apologizes to the woman before passing her a voucher for some good food. "As thanks for being a willing assistant," she says with a wink. Shoto though is less impressed and says, "we didn't come her to put on a show guys."
"Hey Shoto! Think you could whip me up some more ice?" an older man operating a shaved ice stand asks. The bi-colored teen shrugs and makes a small pillar for the man. "That enough?" he asked bluntly, and the man was happy to accept.
Overlooking the beach were a pair of children. One more starry eyed than the other. Back at the office other calls were coming in about troubles around the island. With Momo being more of a receptionist and dispatcher for the agency.
Mina had been doing it at first, but she asked to swap with someone else. "I just….. I keep hearing things I don't want to hear," she said before excusing herself. Luno in the meantime stepped up and helped Momo.
"What's going on with Ashido?" she thought aloud after sending Kaminari to west district to charge a battery. Again. "Why can't the old man buy a new one already?" he groused as he was heading out.
Luno looked down before saying, "it's uh…. A problem with her nature. She's having some trouble adjusting to some of the new powers she has as a demon." Momo blushed before admitting that she hadn't meant to say that aloud. The Hellhound chuckled before Mina just needed time.
But time wasn't something she was going to get. Not with other odd requests coming in. From Koda finding lost pets to other calls for assistance. Namely a missing child case that Izuku was happy to take. "At least it's a bit more of a real emergency," he noted with some frustration.
'Funny. I'd probably love this if I hadn't met John and Sahiraah. But now…. It does feel kind of excessive to have heroes doing work most could take care of by asking a friend or neighbor.'
Kirishima offered to go, but Izuku stopped him. "Your quirk isn't the best for this," he said while putting his sunglasses on. Jiro stood up and noted she had Izuku's back. "Hey Izuku? Maybe you could take Mina too. She's been practicing locator spells. Might be good training." Ochaco said while looking out to the girl standing by the door.
She wasn't smoking, but it almost seemed like she wanted to light up from the look on her face. Izuku smiled and said he would. "Mina! C'mon! We've got a kid to find in the shopping center." Izuku said with a hand on her shoulder.
The pink girl looked up at him with a frown. But it shifted to a mix of smile and a wince. Mainly because thanks to her empathy reading, Izuku seemed like a radiant light that was just full of compassion. 'Great. Now I'm almost waxing poetic. Wait how do I know that word?'
As Mina was thinking this Izuku jostled her slightly to make sure she was alright. Though they had to move out of the way as Ida rocketed to help an old lady who threw her back out. "Sure. Sure Midori. I can come along," she said before asking how they would get there.
Izuku smiled before asking both girls to trust him. He creates a set of kinetic tendrils and blackwhips to wrap around them before taking off into the air. Flying above at a decent pace. 'Don't want to make them sick or cause damage by going too fast after all.' Izuku thinks as he flies above the roads, houses, and trees.
Once they got to the rough area the call came from, Jiro and Mina got to work with their powers. Or in Mina's case she started a locator spell based on the boy's appearance. Meanwhile, Aoyama and Ochaco worked together to clear a road after a rockslide. Ojiro and Mineta continued their patrols. And the rest got called in to help with other various tasks to help the residents of Nabu Island.
"I think I've got him!" Mina announced after a few minutes of scanning. "Looks like an old playground area of some kind. Jiro think you can make sure?" the pink girl asked. Jiro was happy to oblige once they were close and confirmed the sounds of a scared nervous kid in the area.
Izuku went off first and found the boy near a slide. "Hey there. Is your name Katsuma?" Izuku asked with a relaxed smile. The boy named Shimano Katsuma blushed at seeing the hero. But before either could speak up, a new person jumped in. "What took you so long?!"
From the slide a little girl came down and started berating Izuku. Noting it took him 30 minutes to find Katsuma. "Ah ha. So it's like that. You wanted to get an idea of how good we actually were. So you called it in that you lost your brother while keeping an eye on him. And timing us. Am I right?"
The girl who introduced herself as Maharo blushed at Izuku picking apart her plan before pouting and acknowledging the truth. "So what took you so long?!" she demanded in trying to get back some leverage.
"That's a bit of my fault. I was trying out something new and it took longer than I thought." Mina says while walking up with Jiro. This threw Maharo off again and asked what it was that Mina was testing out. "Oh, just this," she says before creating a spell circle and casting it before her. Showing a map of the island and various people on it.
This shuts the little girl up again as she has no idea what she was looking at. "I guess it's not too surprising you don't know about magic." Mina said with a titter. Katsuma meanwhile was wide eyed at hearing that. "Magic is real!?" he asked happily while trying to touch the magic field.
"Easy kid. Yeah it's real. We do have a genie in our class after all." Jiro noted with a smirk. "Nuh uh! That's just a girl with a weird illusion quirk right?!" Maharo says while trying to get back some stance to berate the heroes. But Mina denies it again before admitting she wasn't entirely human either. "But you don't get to know what I am~!" she said with a smirk and a wink.
Maharo keeps pouting before grabbing Katsuma's arm and running off. "What's her deal?" Jiro asked in confusion. Izuku sighs before saying, "she's….. she doesn't trust heroes. Just like Kouta used to."
The other two heroes with him look back and forth for a moment before asking if he was planning to talk to the girl. But Izuku shakes his head before saying, "talking wouldn't do much. I can only show her what a hero is when the time is right."
Mina has an idea of what he meant but Jiro is confused. "Let's head back. We may have more work to do." Izuku said with a smile. After this and a number of smaller jobs, the teens were exhausted. "We've gone Plus Ultra for sure. Any chance we can take smaller jobs?" Kaminari asked while reclining at his station.
Izuku checks the numbers with Ida and Momo before admitting they couldn't do that. "At least not if we want to keep their trust. Right now our focus has to be getting to know the people here," he said while sipping on some cola.
"Well said Midoriya! We need to prove ourselves while acting as their heroes here." Ida noted while finishing some reports. Momo then notes that it was all good practice and training for when they do this full time as pro heroes.
Izuku also notes that even if the area was peaceful, it never hurt to get to know who you were protecting. "That was what he did. Even if it was often by pretending to be something he wasn't or just walking around in the day to day."
"Talking about Jotaro or Justice or John again? You'd think you were his boyfriend man! Not that I don't get the respect you've got for him." Mineta said with a teasing smirk. Izuku rolled his eyes before there was a knock at the entrance to the agency.
It was the islanders who were bringing food and drinks as thanks for all of the teens helping around the island. Though Ida felt his classmates should show some restraint at the impressive spread before them.
"Hey, has anyone seen Melissa?" Izuku asked before the locals left. Ochaco noted that she had been in her workshop the whole day. The mayor was curious about the girl and asked to see what she had been working on.
Izuku knocked on the door and was greeted by a slightly disheveled Melissa. "Oh hey Kibou. What's going on?" she said while rubbing her eyes. "Uh we were about to have dinner and the people from the island came to thank us." Izuku said.
"Oh! Sorry about that. I was working on finishing something for everyone. Hold on. I'll bring them out to show you." Melissa said before turning back to her lab. The mayor looked inside and whistled. "I didn't know the previous hero had all of this."
"Uh he didn't. This is all Melissa's equipment. She brought her own lab to support and fight with us." Ochaco said as the inventor girl was bringing a box out. The mayor was surprised as were a few of the other locals. But they were curious about the twentieth member of 1-A.
Melissa opened the box to show some very small and lightweight earpieces for all of them. "These should be comfortable for all of you. With these, we can give those on patrol directions and new jobs on the fly. Rather than waiting for calls. Which would especially be useful in an area with weak service."
One of the islanders noted that the inner areas did have spotty service and sometimes their main tower didn't work perfectly. "Have I seen you somewhere before miss?" a woman asked while looking at Melissa funny.
That's when a different local recognizes her as Melissa Shield. "Incredible! To think you have one of the best in the support industry here! How did you manage that?!" the mayor asked while shaking his head.
Melissa decided to show them some details herself and used a new feature she'd been working on for her armor. She pulled out her phone and the pieces flew to her. The shining suit still had the major colors of red, white, and yellow as well as the blue-green hue that she took from Izuku and All Might.
The islanders were shocked and asked why she looked like the hero who helped with the cruise ship rescue. "Because she was a hero there. And still is." Torru says with a thumbs up at Melissa. "But…. she doesn't have a quirk. So how can she be a hero?" one person asked.
Izuku tightened his fist at this but took a breath before saying, "because it's not the powers or quirks that make a hero. It's the work and courage they have to step up and face what make them and others afraid."
The inspiring way Izuku said this silenced any possible dissent and all of them looked at him with a measure of hope for the future. Outside, he and his vices accepted more thanks from the locals before they headed home. With Ida and Momo blushing at the praise and thanks.
Izuku was more reserved, but he smiled and had a light pink dusting of his cheeks at what the civilians had said. And that dusting grew into a happy blush as he tasted the delicious food that the locals had cooked for them all.
"Hey Melissa. Do you mind taking the night watch?" Toru asked while a group were heading for the baths. "Wait. What? Why me?" she asked with some confusion. Mina chuckled before saying, "because you stayed in the office all day. Yeah you were working on gear for us, but still."
Melissa blushed at this and acquiesced on the matter. Izuku and Ochaco offered to stay up with her for the time being. Though it ended up being some more training as Izuku wanted to practice a few kicks and movements outside the building before bathing.
Ochaco followed suit and practiced with Melissa on the best ways to throw punches or counter attacks. While he was practicing though, Izuku was reflecting on not just the quirk he'd originally gained from All Might; the power of One For All and all that came with it. But also his untapped potential that only awakened thanks to a little nudge from Justice.
'They both entrusted me with something great. And I have to make it my own. Same for all the powers the rest of the previous holders' abilities.' Izuku thinks before using his tendrils and blackwhips to lift some delicate objects. But this doesn't go as well as he breaks a number of them. "Damnit. Still putting too much force in."
"You need to relax Izuku. You're way too tense. Both in trying to use that one power on breakables and in trying to push yourself." Ochaco says before gently wrapping him in a hug from behind. Izuku melts into her embrace a bit while letting out a breath and thanks Ochaco. He thinks to himself on how he can handle about 30% of the maximum power currently. He can push the output to about 40 in small bursts like his Delaware Air Force Smashes.
'But I spent a lot of time not focusing on that and trying to make the most of my kinetic powers and it's variations. But even that I didn't try to figure out how a lot of it works. Like my healing factor. I just focused on trying to pull kinetic energy for my cooling and heating powers so I could use smokescreen. Let along practicing with float and my kinetic flight.'
Before his mind could once again go into a spiral, Ochaco kissed his neck and told him he needed to relax a bit. "This island would be perfect for it. I know you're the technical head of the office and everything, but you need some time to not worry about being a hero."
"She's right Kibou. You could use a break as badly as I can." Melissa said with a worried but compassionate look in her eyes. Izuku sighed before thanking them both. "I'll take a bath and get some sleep," he says while taking both of their hands.
But just as they were going inside, Katsuma arrived and called out to them. "There's…. There's a villain!" he said in a panic. All three heroes' eyes went wide before asking where they were. Melissa calling her armor once more before passing Izuku and Ochaco their support gear.
For Izuku, armored bracers based on the Full Gauntlets and a design from Hatsume. One that let him focus his Air Force flicks better and would compensate if he went over his limit. Ochaco's meanwhile took inspiration from Izuku's tendrils with grappling hooks in her wrist sections. As well as a new device inspired by something Justice had done for her long ago.
"Alright. Show or tell us where the villain is Katsuma." Izuku said while tightening his fists for the fight to come. While Melissa's armor locked into place and powered up the diagnostics and Ochaco put on another headpiece to compensate for the disorientation brought on by her quirk. They were ready to go.
Tad cliché I know, but I wanted to show how the students would handle a few minor changes. I hope the things with Mina don't seem too out there.
I thought it would be fitting that she has to deal with….. well not exactly crap but I think it would drain on anyone to know a person's darker emotions. Let alone being a half demon. So I've had her go a bit more gyaru (leg warmers, no tights, etc for the school uniform) and she's a bit surlier in her day to day.
And yes, there will be far more shake ups to the story of Heroes Rising. Just need to get there and set up how all of the fight elements will go. Please review!